Web counters Options

[Lee Batchelor]

Hi all,

I wish to add another free website visit counter that excludes certain IP addresses. I already use StatCounter, which has a page where you can add the IP addresses you don't want counted but I've had some issues with that counter losing hit counts all by itself. Their tech folks have been very helpful but can't see any issues with their code.

I want to run another counter in parallel with StatCounter as a check. There are lots of freebies out there but none have IP filtering. I don't want to use Google Analytics because I believe you have to possess an advanced degree in computer science to even open their page!

Many thanks.

[Christian J]

With Web Counter, do you mean one where the results are visible to everybody on the page (as opposed to web stats that are only visible to the site owner)?

I've had some issues with that counter losing hit counts all by itself. Their tech folks have been very helpful but can't see any issues with their code.

Could it be that some browsers block counters and similar tracking scripts? To avoid that you might use server side scripting for the counter, but (except for ordinary web stats) I don't know about any readymade ones like that. Perhaps you could write your own in PHP. Basically just compare the IP of a HTTP request with your list of unwanted IPs, and if it's not found there increment the counter value.

[Lee Batchelor]

Hi Christian,

I mean an ordinary counter that tracks visits to each page on the website. It can be hidden or visible. StatCounter does that and has a function where I can list IP addresses for it to ignore. These are people who I don't want to track in the counter. This is a music band website I developed a few years ago, with much help from Coothead! I want the other three band members to view the website but not be counted - myself included.

None of the free counters offer the IP address exclusion function, except StatCounter. StatCounter is excellent but on two occasions we have lost high numbers of hits and neither the support people nor I can see how those hits were lost. Hence, I wish to run another counter in parallel with StatCounter.

I too wondered about creating my own counter but I'm not familiar with the language(s) needed. Perhaps there are some premade codes I can download. I'd still need to have it ignore four IP addresses. On the other hand, there are only four of us to ignore. Two of the four virtually never visit the website. Perhaps the remaining two (me and one other) will have very little effect on the resulting hit accuracy!

Thanks for the help 👍!

- Lee

[Christian J]

I mean an ordinary counter that tracks visits to each page on the website. It can be hidden or visible.

Check if your web host doesn't already offer one for free.

I want the other three band members to view the website but not be counted - myself included.

Oh, I thought you wanted to exclude IPs of known bots. Alas, on smaller sites the vast majority of hits will be from bots. I suppose javascript-based counters use various methods to detect bots automatically, but I have no idea of how accurate such methods are.

[Lee Batchelor]

Thanks, Christian. I never thought about asking the host. I'll do that.

- Lee